Self-locking structure



m 1. a 6 e 2 a .w. 2 a e Oct. 17, 1950 B LEEPER SELF-LOCKING STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 17, 1947 BY ATTORNEYS i B. L. LEEPER SELF -LOCKING STRUCTURE 2 Shets-Shet 2 Oct. 17, 1950 Filed Dec; 17, 1947 V/l/[IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/{LT BY M ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 17, 1950 IT ED "S TATES N T F I CE SELF-LOCKING s'ritUc'rUa-E Benjamin Louis Leeper', Kingsport, Tenn. sApplicatioIi'December 17, 1947,.SerialNo. 792,188

This invention relates to self-locking structures .and, .particularly,-to knock down structures ,made .principally from sheet-like elements so .lconstructed and arranged that they may be readilyassem'bled without the use of additional 7 fastening means and will form stable .selfsustaining structures. v

..It..is anobject .of this invention to provide a .lockingmeans for knock down structures whereby the application of ,weight to the parts of the structure. willresult in forcing the parts more {tightly together 'and "increasing the stability thereof. y I

It .isanothe'r object of this invention to provide vsuch astructureconsisting of basic units that may be altered in size or extent without the use .of tools or auxiliary fastening means.

Other objects'and advantages will appear as the description proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings; in which: f l isa perspective view of :a display stand constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention; 7 Fig. '2 is a vertical'sectional view taken substantially along line 22 'of, Fig. 7 1 and looking 'in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the partsconstitut- .ing the structure of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a wheeled parts ibin as commonly employed in factories or the like. and also embodying the principles of the present invention;

.Fig..5 is a sectionalviewtaken along the line Fig..6 .is.a perspective view .of the manner in which thislinvention may be embodied in a doll house or other construction toys;

I Fig. '7 is a perspective view of 'a table. constructedin accordance with the principles of this invention; and

.Fig. 8 is a sectional view thereof taken along the line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

Fig-1 illustrates a display stand commonly known in the trade as a float or gondola, used in stores to support a plurality of articles for display. This type of device is usually placed in the aisles on the floor, and it is necessary that 2 permanently mounted. Theshelf member 3 is providedin its upper surface with a groove The grooved extends downwardly from the upper surface ofthe'Shelf 3 asu'bstantial distance, but,

being a groove, does not extend entire y th'rou'ghthe shelf 3. As illustrated in Fig 3, fthej'groove 4 consists of a longitudinal portion-5 apair of transverse intersecting portions t,

is ame plane.

@allcof. equaldepth, and theends of which terminate shortoftheedges of the member 3. A

supporting .or spacing structure I comprises a plurality of sheet-like elements 8 and 9 in which the element=8 is provided with a pair 'of upwardly facing notches I6 and the elements 9 are pro- 'vided'with downwardl facing notches H. The

notches :19 :and I I are so dimensioned. as to .snuglyembracexthe portions of the other element .below the notch therein whereby the elements:

and-9 may be assembled, in a well known manner tdprovide a cruciform structure having its upper: andlower edges lying substantially in-the The lengths of the elements 8 and it are substantially equal to the lengths of the portions t. and 6 of the groove i, and the said groove is of a-width substantially equal to the .thick-ness of the elements 8 and 9 whereby the cruciformstructure' may be placed in the groove :5:- withitszlower edges projecting into said grooves 'and'below the upper, surface of the member 3, as

clearly-shown in 'Fig. 2. A second shelf or supporting'imember I2 is provided. in its lower sur face withpagroove d'identical in shape and size to thegroovedin'the member 3 whereby it may be-placed upon the supporting structure '5 and receive theuupper edges thereof within the said :groove and'be frictionally held thereby against lateral displacement.

"The upper-surface of the member I2 is pro- 'vided with a groove l3 which may be similar in all-respects to the groove-4. A second supporting structure 14, constructed and assembled in the same-manner as the structure '1, is positioned by the-groove l3 to support a third member I5 having a groove iii in its lower surface in the same-manner as the member I2 is supported by the structure I.

E'In the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3, successive shelf members I2 and 55 are smaller than-"the one upon which they are supported whereby the completed assembly forms a generally'pyramid-shaped structure and the shelf portions constitute support-s for articles of'merchandise to display the same in an attractive manner. It will be apparent that the grooves i3. and 63' .must be of lesser longitudinal and lateral dimensions than the groove 4 since the entirestructure progressively decreases in width .aslthelheight is increased.

(The laterally extending portions ii of the groove i and the elements .9 of the supporting structure i. impartgreat lateral rigidity to the assembly and insure.v against the parts becoming separated or tilted due toga concentration of weight near, an edgeof any 'eof the. shelf members and that an increase-in-,the total weightsupported by the assemblywill result in forcing the parts into tighter engagement to thereby firm-1y lockthe .parts together. Sucha structure may be bodily shiftedalongthe floor by lateral pressure on any of the shelf members without danger of dislodging the parts or collapsing the structure.

The elements described may be provided in any number desired whereby the user may assemble only so much of the structure as is needed for a particular display and spare elements may be available to increase the height of the structure when the occasion demands. To this end the base structure comprising elements I and 2 provides a storage space I9 beneath the lowermost shelf 3 whereby extra or spare parts [6, shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, may be retained. If desired the side members 2 may be provided with bayonet slots I! at their inner surfaces, and cross members or slats l8 may be positioned with their ends in the said slots to provide a support for the spare parts [6.

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate another form the invention may take. In this form a base member 20 is provided with caster or the like 2|. The said base member has a groove in its upper surface to receive a supporting and partitioning structure 22. The base member 20 is preferably additionally provided with upstanding side members '23 permanently attached thereto whereby the supporting structure 22 defines with the base member a plurality of bins or compartments. In this construction it is desirable that the vertical edges of the supporting structure 22 extend to the outermost boundaries of the shelf members to provide maximum capacity within the bins or compartments. The groove in the upper surface of the base member 20 preferably terminates short of the edges of the base member in the manner illustrated in Fig. 5. The upper edges of the supporting structure 22 are received in a groove in the lower surface of an intermediate shelf 24 which is also provided with upstanding sides 23 and a groove in its upper surface identical with that in the base member 29. Clearly, additional intermediate shelves 24 and supporting structures 22 may be provided to extend the height of the bin structure to any desired elevation, and the assembly may be changed in height and capacity as the occasion demands. If desired, certain of the intermediate shelf members may be provided with a groove to receive supporting structures having a greater or lesser number of transverse elements to thereby increase or decrease the number of bins at that level. The top shelf member 25 is shown as being devoid of a grooved upper surface, which is a preferred form of construction; however, it may be a duplicate of the intermediate shelf members since the groove would not interfere with the placing thereon of articles to be transported. Likewise, if there is no need for the uppermost shelf member 25, it may be omitted entirely with the intermediate supporting member 22 providing open top bins on the intermediate shelf 24.

Fig. 6 illustrates another manner in which the invention can be employed. In this embodiment a doll house is provided with a permanent base 30 and upstanding walls 3| permanently attached thereto. The first floor partitions 32, the member 33, and the second floor partitions 34 may be constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention in a manner that will be obvious to those skilled in the art, whereby a variety of different interiors may be provided for the doll house. Clearly the principles of this invention could also be employed in other types of construction toys. i

Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate a still further manner in which this invention may be employed. This embodiment is a tier table having a base structure 40 comprising elements 4| and 42 assembled in a manner similar to the supportingstructures of the above described embodiments. The base structure 40 supports a lowermost tier 43 and is preferably permanently attached thereto whereby the entire table may be lifted and moved by grasping the edges of the tier 43. Secondary and tertiary tiers 44 and 45 are each supported on the tier therebelow by supporting structures 46 and 47, similar in construction to the structures described heretofore but having their vertical edges so shaped as to provide an outline of pleasing shape. It will be evident that the upper and lower edges of the supporting structures must necessarily be of substantial length to provide necessary stability. The upper and lower edges of the supporting structures 46 and 41 are frictionally received in appropriately shaped grooves 48 in the respective tier members. Clearly, the design of the table can be altered or the number of tiers can be varied from time to time within the scope of the present invention.

The embodiments described herein all include the same inventive concept, that is, a series of superimposed shelf-like members spaced apart by supporting structures having edges frictionally received in grooves in the respective members whereby a stable knock down structure is provided and in which the supporting structures occupy a very small portion of the superficial area of the shelf-like members, thus affording a highly efficient use of the materials employed; and a structure in which greater loads act to lock the parts more securely together.

The invention is not to be limited to the embodiments described, but is contemplated to include all embodiments falling fairly within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A structure comprising a lower member having crossed intersecting grooves in its upper surface, a removable second member having crossed intersecting grooves in its lower surface, and spacing means consisting of interlocking elements having edge portions seated in the grooves in said lower member and other edge portions seated in the grooves in said second member, said edge portions being the same length as the grooves in which they are seated whereby to support said second member in fixed spaced relation to said lower member, said spacing means comprising a relatively thin sheet-like element for each of said intersecting grooves and arranged to define separate laterally open compartments.

BENJAMIN LOUIS LEEPER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 7 111,608 Castelow Feb. 7, 1871 957,859 Bliss May 10, 1910 1,348,262 Brockway Aug. 3, 1920 1,372,100 Siff ert Mar; 22, 1921 1,717,137 Barton June 11, 1929 2,000,915 Blake May 14, 1935 2,240,767 Friedel May 6, 1941 2,319,877 Perry May 25, 1943 2,347,821 Golder May 2, 1944.- 2,366,677 Rosenthal Jan. 2, 1 945 2,435,132 HOraene Jan, 27, 1948 2,468,518 Rider Apr. 26. 1949 

